Interstellar || Draco Malfoy

29 || The Final Task

While the other contestants had their families or their professors giving them a pep talk before the final task, I had Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. Goyle had taken to staring down the other contestants, standing between me and them in an attempt to both keep their eyes off me and to intimidate my opponents.

"Mona," Draco said, bringing my attention from Goyle's back to his eyes. "Steer clear of Krum. Boy looks bloody possessed."

"And you keep away from Potter." Crabbe added, sending me a hard glare. "He's wildly unpredictable with his magic, and more often than not, that is more harmful than helpful."

I nodded at Crabbe's words, offering him a smile as his glare faltered. In an instant, he had his arms wrapped around my shoulders in a hug, holding me very tightly. He'd been saying that he had a bad feeling about this task, and his worry was manifesting in the worst way.

"Stay away from Krum and Potter." I repeated their words as Crabbe let me go. "The maze is huge, so that shouldn't be too hard."

"We're to start soon, Miss Littlesea." Snape told me, brushing past Draco to get back to Dumbledore's side. Hearing those words, Goyle finally turned around and grabbed me in yet another hug.

"Make sure you come back in one piece." Goyle said, releasing me from his strong hold. Together, Crabbe and Goyle made their way up into the stands, settling directly in the middle of the front row, saving a spot for Draco.

"Be careful out there, love." Draco murmured, gently fixing the collar of my shirt. "We're going to need our champion whole if we are to celebrate properly."

"I'll be just fine, Draco." I said confidently.

"You said that about the first task, and you nearly lost an arm." Draco stated with a frown. I shook my head and pressed a kiss to his cheek, giving his hand a squeeze for good measure.

"I survived, dear." I reminded him with a soft smile.

"Right, right." Draco nodded, trying to convince himself that I would be okay. "I just... I don't want to see you laid up in the hospital wing ever again."

I wrapped my arms around his torso, understanding his fear that I wouldn't make it back to him. His arms tightened around me, and I sighed contentedly.

"Promise me that you will be careful." Draco spoke into my hair, his grip on me tightening slightly.

"I promise that I will be careful, dear." Satisfied with my response, Draco placed a lingering kiss on my forehead before he let me go. As Dumbledore started speaking to the crowd, Draco joined Crabbe and Goyle on the front most bench.

"Earlier today Professor Moody placed the Triwizards cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position. Now, as Miss Littlesea," Dumbledore was promptly cut off by the cheers of my fan club in the stands, now waving little flags with my name on them excitedly. "Is in first position, she will enter the maze first. Followed by Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter, who tied for second place. Then Mr. Krum, and finally Miss Delacour. The first person to touch the cup will be the winner. I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter; if at any point, should a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with their wands."

There was a beat of silence as Dumbledore took the time to look each of the contestants in the eyes, conveying the seriousness of this stipulation.

"Contestants, gather round. In the maze you'll find not dragons, or creatures of the deep. Instead, you'll face something more challenging. You see, people change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can, but be very weary; you could just lose yourselves along the way." Dumbledore warned eerily, eyeing Harry and I more closely than the others..

"Champions! Prepare yourselves." Moody shouted, startling me slightly.

"Miss LIttlesea." Snape called, gesturing toward the maze entrance that I was to start in. We stopped at the mouth of the opening, both looking into the darkness of the maze. "Keep your wand in your hand at all times. Keep focused on your surroundings. Do not let yourself get caught off guard."

I nodded at his quick words, gripping onto my wand only slightly tighter. Suddenly, with no warning, Filch fired the cannon, signalling that I was to enter the maze.

"Wand up, Desdemona." Snape ordered silently as I started toward the opening of the maze. As the music faded behind me, due to the maze opening closing itself, I raised my wand and started my trek to find the cup.I muttered a quick lumos spell and scanned my surroundings. As far as I could see up and in front of me, hedges littered with thorns swayed as if there were a breeze. There wasn't.

I could hear the soft noises of multiple magical creatures, and made sure to remain vigilant as I traversed the misty maze. I took a left turn, beginning to run as the hedges around me tried to swallow me up. I slowed to a stop as Fleur darted across my vision, holding my breath as a spark of light struck Fleur. She tumbled to the ground, unconscious from the blow. Ducking behind another hedge, I watched as Viktor Krum stepped over the unconscious Beauxbaton's girls body as if he were in a trance. Deciding to avoid Viktor, I continued down the path I'd used to hide behind. As I swiftly scanned my surroundings, running down yet another path, something shiny caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking directly at the glowing Triwizard Cup.

"Get down!" Cedric Diggory's voice reached my ears the same time he collided with my body. As we landed on the dirt with a heavy thud, a green hex had flown over both of our heads. I turned to look at the person who cast the hex, meeting the bewitched eyes of Viktor Krum.

"Stupefy!" I cast, knocking Viktor to the ground. I pushed Cedric off of me, getting to my feet swiftly. I raised my wand toward Viktor, who had stumbled to his feet as well. Just as I was about to send another spell towards the bewitched Bulgarian, none other than Harry Potter grabbed my wand hand and pushed it down.

"He's bewitched!" Harry shouted at me, as if I hadn't known that already. I ripped my hand from his, shoving the boy toward the hedge behind him.

"Get off of me!" I huffed, adjusting my grip on my wand.

"The cup." Cedric murmured, eyes fixated on the glowing cup before us. Acting before Harry and Cedric could, I darted toward the cup. The maze was trying to stop me from reaching it, but I was simply too fast for its vines to wrap around me the way they had Harry and Cedric.

"Desdemona!" Cedric cried out, clawing the dirt as the maze tried to drag him into the hedges. I paused my pursuit of victory, turning and shooting spells at the vines holding Cedric and Harry hostage, successfully freeing both boys.

"I thought, for a second, you were going to leave us there." Harry panted, rolling onto his back in an effort to catch his breath.

"Well, I wasn't going to." I stated, straightening up slightly.

"Some game, huh?" Cedric asked with a relieved chuckle.

"Some game." Harry confirmed, pushing himself up off the ground. When he turned to face Cedric and I, he glanced at us with uncertainty.

"You should take it." Harry gestured to the cup glowing behind me.

"You saved us both." Cedric added. "Go ahead, take it."

"How about we all three take the cup, together?" I countered. "I mean, I do owe you one, Diggory."

"Together then." Cedric nodded.

"On three." Harry decided, holding a hand up toward the cup. Cedric and I followed suit, lowering our hands as Harry started a countdown.